title: Prospects for systems biology and modeling of the gut microbiome.
abstract: Abundant microorganisms that inhabit the human intestine are implicated in health and disease. The gut microbiome has been studied with metagenomic tools, and over 3 million genes have been discovered, constituting a 'parts list' of this ecosystem; further understanding requires studies of the interacting parts. Mouse models have provided a glimpse into the microbiota and host interactions at metabolic and immunologic levels; however, to provide more insight, there is a need to generate mathematical models that can reveal genotype-phenotype relationships and provide scaffolds for integrated analyses. To this end, we propose the use of genome-scale metabolic models that have successfully been used in studying interactions between human hosts and microbes, as well as microbes in isolation and in communities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Kemivägen 10, SE-412 96 Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Fredrik H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Karlsson
authors.forename: Intawat
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nookaew
authors.forename: Dina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Petranovic
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nielsen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D054892:Metagenome; D051379:Mice; D023421:Models, Animal; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D049490:Systems Biology / Q000379:methods*